Oscar Arias

Oscar Arias (13 September 1940-) was President of Costa Rica from 8 May 1986 to 8 May 1990, succeeding Luis Alberto Monge and preceding Rafael Angel Calderon Fournier, and again from 8 May 2006 to 8 May 2010, succeeding Abel Pacheco and preceding Laura Chinchilla. He was a member of the social democratic National Liberation Party of Costa Rica.

Biography
Oscar Arias Sanchez was born in Heredia, Costa Rica on 13 September 1940. A student of law in San Jose, he studied politics in London and Essex, where he obtained a doctorate. He later returned to San Jose to teach political science, and he served as Minister of Planning from 1972 to 1977. In 1979, he became president of the National Liberation Party of Costa Rica, and he was elected President of Costa Rica in 1986. He received the Nobel Peace Prize for his Arias Peace Plan in 1987, and he ensured that conflicts such as those in Nicaragua and El Salvador were concluded peacefully with his plans for free and democratic elections. Arias left office in 1990, but he again served as President from 2006 to 2010.